Douglas Luiz

[ender4]

2 hours ago, Tom13 said:

He was told Steven was going IMO.

Has to have been the case.  No way was he signed a new contract with Gerrard as a manager and Villa being a complete shambles and in danger of relegation.

[maqroll]

7 hours ago, SecretVillaScout said:

I'd like to see him become the Villa captain.

Me too, I've been suggesting this for a while now. Douglas is the spiritual leader of the team and should be captain. He acts like a field marshal but is always cool and collected. Hopefully Unai sees this and gives him the armband next season.

[Zatman]

4 hours ago, Kuwabatake Sanjuro said:

Not that long ago that many were calling for us to replace him with James Ward Prowse.

Also Phillips and Bissouma

[maqroll]

I remember watching him at the final whistle at Fulham. His facial expression was very telling. He was walking toward the Villa supporters and had a sort of exasperated look that suggested disgust with the entire situation and Gerrard specifically. I hope we learn the full behind the scenes story of the Gerrard nightmare. I think it's possible the entire team despised him by the end of his stint.

[Tom13]

Just now, maqroll said:

I remember watching him at the final whistle at Fulham. His facial expression was very telling. He was walking toward the Villa supporters and had a sort of exasperated look that suggested disgust with the entire situation and Gerrard specifically. I hope we learn the full behind the scenes story of the Gerrard nightmare. I think it's possible the entire team despised him by the end of his stint.

Ironic that I'm about to use a Steven phrase but Dougie really has been 'all in' since the day he joined us. Love him as a player and love his character.

[bose]

5 hours ago, Tom13 said:

He was told Steven was going IMO.

I thought so at the time. With the way he was treated by that fraud there is no other explanation. He’s been amazing since.

[QldVilla]

The potential and ability was always there with Luiz, you could see it from when he was signed, fans forget how young he was at the time. Now we are seeing the player who week in week out can run the midfield and will only continue to improve.

[MWARLEY2]

How the F did he not get a look in under Gerrard.  The perfect modern midfielder. 

[Tom13]

3 minutes ago, MWARLEY2 said:

How the F did he not get a look in under Gerrard.  The perfect modern midfielder. 

Benched when Kamara was fit - and when he wasn't fit - he played in that unbalanced midfield. I'll never get over how little Steven played Kamara and Douglas together! The one game VS City he was forced into it because of an early injury IIRC - we played well - then he split them up again next game I think. Unbelievable.

Edited April 16, 2023 by Tom13

[Dale]

7 minutes ago, MWARLEY2 said:

How the F did he not get a look in under Gerrard.  The perfect modern midfielder. 

Gerrard just wants people running about like he did. He never appreciated the technical or tactical part of the game as a player... And that hasn't changed. 

[Jono62]

On 16/04/2023 at 00:07, maqroll said:

I remember watching him at the final whistle at Fulham. His facial expression was very telling. He was walking toward the Villa supporters and had a sort of exasperated look that suggested disgust with the entire situation and Gerrard specifically. I hope we learn the full behind the scenes story of the Gerrard nightmare. I think it's possible the entire team despised him by the end of his stint.

It's a shame we weren't part of the All or Nothing series while Gerrard was in charge, would have been fascinating in a car crash kind of way. Bet Dougie would have been like this at Gerrard's tactics

 

 

[Tom13]

24 minutes ago, Jono62 said:

It's a shame we weren't part of the All or Nothing series while Gerrard was in charge, would have been fascinating in a car crash kind of way. Bet Dougie would have been like this at Gerrard's tactics

 

 

That's one of my fav GIFs 

[Tom13]

Btw, no chance we'd be on that with Gerrard here. Deep down he doubts his managerial ability far too much to let cameras near us.

[Panto_Villan]

On 15/04/2023 at 23:54, ender4 said:

Has to have been the case.  No way was he signed a new contract with Gerrard as a manager and Villa being a complete shambles and in danger of relegation.

I’ve always found the situation a bit puzzling. I agree we must have said something to Luiz in advance about Gerrard departing in order to get him to sign a new contract. It seemed a huge change of course from Luiz at the time.

But I feel like a simple “Gerrard is going” probably wouldn’t have been enough given Arsenal were after him and we’d had a couple of disappointing seasons, and there was no guarantee a new manager would want to play Luiz either.

Something like “we’re bringing in Emery and he thinks you’re great” would probably do it, but does that imply a much greater level of contact with Emery before he took over than anyone has admitted to?

[Delphinho123]

13 hours ago, Dale said:

Gerrard just wants people running about like he did. He never appreciated the technical or tactical part of the game as a player... And that hasn't changed. 

I mean, come on. Gerrard as a manager = sh*te, but let's not pretend he wasn't anything other than f***** superb as a footballer. He gave you absolutely everything you'd want in a midfielder and I'd argue one of the greatest to grace the PL. He was better than anything we've had at VP in my lifetime and that's with my C&B tinted glasses on. 

I hate him as much as the next bloke, but like I say, terrific footballer and would be better than most 'modern' players even now. 

[Adam2003]

32 minutes ago, Panto_Villan said:

Something like “we’re bringing in Emery and he thinks you’re great” would probably do it, but does that imply a much greater level of contact with Emery before he took over than anyone has admitted to?

We can assume there is ALWAYS lots of contact with potential prospects all the time. And of course on the flipside other clubs will always be in touch with the agents of our coaches and players discussing hypotheticals…

[Dale]

2 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

I mean, come on. Gerrard as a manager = sh*te, but let's not pretend he wasn't anything other than f***** superb as a footballer. He gave you absolutely everything you'd want in a midfielder and I'd argue one of the greatest to grace the PL. He was better than anything we've had at VP in my lifetime and that's with my C&B tinted glasses on. 

I hate him as much as the next bloke, but like I say, terrific footballer and would be better than most 'modern' players even now. 

He was a brilliant footballer. Absolutely no doubt. But brilliant at playing his way, his talent meant that he could. Lampard very similar, they couldn't adjust to play together (they played their way). Blood, guts, thunder, and incredible talent. 

Xabi Alonso wasn't as big a star, but if you want someone to implement a game plan as instructed, you'd pick him every time. 

[Delphinho123]

2 minutes ago, Dale said:

He was a brilliant footballer. Absolutely no doubt. But brilliant at playing his way, his talent meant that he could. Lampard very similar, they couldn't adjust to play together (they played their way). Blood, guts, thunder, and incredible talent. 

Xabi Alonso wasn't as big a star, but if you want someone to implement a game plan as instructed, you'd pick him every time. 

I think that's a bold claim but fair play 

[Panto_Villan]

19 minutes ago, Adam2003 said:

We can assume there is ALWAYS lots of contact with potential prospects all the time. And of course on the flipside other clubs will always be in touch with the agents of our coaches and players discussing hypotheticals…

Yeah, I’m sure there’s always lots of hypotheticals going on.

I just feel like Luiz probably needed more than just hypotheticals to convince him to sign a new long-term deal at lower table where he was out of favour, rather than forcing a move to the CL club that wanted him.

[wict01]

I'm sure I've read somewhere that Gerrard himself admitted he wasn't much into the tactical side of things as a player. He led by example and by scoring last minute thunderbastards which masked his lack of nous. 

Anyway, re Dougie I was critical of him when he first joined as he seemed to take too long on the ball to pick his passes but ever since lockdown in 2020 he's been absolutely superb and I hope he stays for the rest of his career. Absolutely unreal footballer and seems a real genuine bloke too. So glad he stayed, despite Gerrard!